The Official Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide (2nd Edition)

I'm getting a real education on grading with this book. Using it to self-grade some books before posting on Ebay.Follow-up 11-15-15: I've sold a number of books on Ebay now with suggested grades based on info from this book. So far all buyers have been satisfied and none have disputed the grades that I've suggested in valuing the books. I think that there are enough examples given here that a diligent effort will get you to an accurate grade.

Informative.

Excellent guide to grading comics to find appropriate price for condition to sell/buy comics on Ebay or from comic book dealers.

Sometimes I wonder how major glaring issues get published with something that purports to be a definitive guide. Of course i'm talking about the size of the photos, many labelled flaws are simply undectable and pressing ones face right up to the book to see flaws is well silly and unnecessary. Its sad to see a total compromise of someones product presumably to sell more copies to WaldenBooks or whomever, it shows a lack of integrity and a lack of dedication to ones customers. Other than that major disappointment, I'd have to say the only other problem with the book are that the written articles are a bit muddled, the basics of grading seem a bit sparse while some aspects of minutae seem to be overemphasised. All the information you need to make grading judgements in todays CGC environment is here though. Most probably wont be too happy to learn that most comics they bought as NM/VF in the 80's/early 90's are probably a 7.5 at best in today's market. But thats not Overstreets fault. The part of the book where they take an Atom comic through the grades is very informative and probably the best visual representation of grading to date. Theres promise here and the information is factual but presented in a flawed manner, if you need a handy reference guide for comic grading this is it. Surely they cant help but address the basic flaws with their product in later editions?

Bottom line: Comic book grading is THE most difficult component of the comics collecting business side of the equation. Subjective interpretation lends disparity between any 2 people's grades, but the more experience that you have, the better equiped that you are to make qualified decisions about a book's grade. This book was much-updated from its previous version, so is an improvement. Bashing the book for not giving a "Cliff-notes" version of how to wave a magic wand, and "poof!" get a grade is a poor position to take. Yes, the book needs work in terms of pictures of defects and corresponding adjustments. One should also keep in mind that there is a functional aspect of grading that allows for a given defect to be (somewhat) offset by a strong characteristic in another are (e.g. stress marks bring book to FN, but stunning colors and/or supple white pages might boost it back to VF-, as a potential example). Given that there is NOT a lot of documented information on this subject, this book is helpful as a reference ONLY, and should be used in conjunction with other references (ComicBase, Wizard, Overstreet Guide), to make a good determination of a grade. Certainly times are better now than they were, say, 10 years ago, when only pros in the business for years could make an accurate estimate. Be thankful for that. CGC info, by design, is not going to be released - it's a Trade Secret for their business model, and if they gave it all away, they would not be in business. Does Proctor and Gamble give away its recipe for its products, or DuPont? - of course not. The discerning investigative researcher uses multiple sources. One such source (if you had bothered to read the Overstreet 33rd Edition) is that Metropolis Comics helped CGC develop the standards that they use. Also, many of the MAJOR comic dealers contribute heavily to the Advisory Board for CGC, so if you look at the sources, you could glean more information as well. Stop whining, and start learning ! This book is a valuable tool to be used with the other resources available to comics collectors, but it is not the de facto "guide" for grading. There will never be such a guide, so get over it.

The main problem with this book is the photographs. The descriptions along the photographs point out flaws on a cover with little arrows, but you see nothing. It is very hard to get a visual sense of what the difference is with a 8.5 book and a 7.5 book when the condition of the two appear to be identical. In addition, the criteria description for each grade doesn't necessarily follow what CGC, LLC has done over the last decade. It is reality that CGC has become the industry leader in grading, readily accepted by the market, and so this Guide should attempt to follow CGC's grading conclusions more closely. In my view, the Guide is too rigid and discuss when grading flexibility is permissible. For example, this Guide doesn't address what happens if a book that has all the attributes of an 8.0 has a small quarter-inch triangle missing on the back cover. Instead, a novice grader following the Guide will be led to conclude that the comic is automatically doomed for a 3.5-ish grade because of the missing piece.

This was a good book. Excellent for someone looking to take their collecting more seriously. In that respect excellent on all levels. It had further developed alot of things put forth in the 1992 edition. Good pictures. Thorough descriptions. Read this to get a fair ,accurate opinion of what grade a comic book should receive according to its condition. Although a few years old each new edition is useful even to the currently accepted grades a comic should receive. Includes CGC info, restoration info and extensive desriptions on what you should expect if you do talk to an expert.

Great book